Neb. community cleans up from devastating fire

STAPLETON, Neb. (AP) — Residents of Stapleton are coming together to clean up from a fire that tore through miles of grassland and crops.

KNOP-TV reports that 65 volunteers traipsed through charred farmland Saturday to pick salvageable corn. Producers aren't yet sure what to do with the nearly 1,000 bushels of corn plucked from scorched stalks.

Volunteer Tristan Haake says there was corn everywhere and the beleaguered farmers couldn't harvest it all themselves.

The fire early this month devoured more than 20,000 acres of farmland and caused millions of dollars in estimated crop and property damage. One house near Stapleton was destroyed but residents estimate firefighters saved 23 other homes from the fire.